Apatow points to the absurdity of the notion that “comedy is easy to do, seriousness is hard” as a defence for the genre’s lack of recognition.

Actually, making people laugh is hard:

“Any movie without laughs would take half as long…I think that ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ was really easy to make, because there were no laughs. So was it hard? I don’t think so.”

Think of the number of comedies that really make an impact in contrast to the ones that don’t — if they were so easy, they would all be acclaimed and successful. But they’re not. (Sorry, “Jack and Jill.”)

A comedy category would not rob the Oscars of any credibility, tarnish its history, or any other equally ridiculous argument:

“Comedy’s not included, ever…I mean it’s been like five times in a zillion years that [comedy] has won Best Picture, and it doesn’t seem like it’s screwing up ‘Schindler’s List’ for ‘Hangover’ to have its own category.”

Want proof? Look at all of the other prestigious awards that celebrate comedic performances (i.e., Screen Actors Guild Awards, Golden Globes, People’s Choice Awards, Critics’ Choice Movie Awards, etc). Plus, it would probably make the incredibly long show more interesting.